Things I Don’t Want To Talk About. Part 2. The Park

Covid19 is overwhelming me. I know we’re going to be fine. It comes down to this. I handle stressful situations by determining what I can do, and then leaving the rest alone.

I can wear a mask to stores and businesses. I can wear a mask at work when others are around. I can put up signs in my business to inform customers that they need to wear a mask. I can arrange for social visits to take place outside in a socially distant way. I can wear masks to the theatre. I can wear masks to visit vulnerable friends and family. I can call and write letters to family members who are isolating right now.

And I can…take my kid to the park!! At the park, he can run free and actually play with other kids. Dan is still a little boy, but he wants so much to be seen as cool. He wore all black and every time he spoke, he lowered his voice so the older kids would accept him. I watched the teenagers invite him to play tag with them. I watched him running and laughing. This tiny little boy with the older teenagers.

It was magnificent.

It’s been a rough year for this kid. Covid19 restrictions and Type 1 Diabetes has introduced a world of rules into this kid’s life. The park is a place where he can play and forget his troubles.

He still wears his mask though. And we have his diabetes kit in the car. And he carries his glucometer in his pocket. It’s our new normal. We’re happy to accept a new normal when we consider the alternative suffering so many are facing.

This morning Dan at 7am, Dan asked if he could walk to the park by himself. I told him no. I was nervous! He is almost 12 years old. Am I too protective? I want him to be independent, but I also worry about him in the world by himself. Someday, I am going to have to realize that his willingness to adventure is a good thing and he is old enough to take care of himself.

For now, I love going with him. I watch him from afar. I sit on my bench, or walk around the playground, enjoying the fresh air. And then he runs over to me and says, “Take a video of this! I figured out a cooler way to do the zipline!” And I enjoy sharing in his triumphs.

We’ve been going to parks for ages. We live in Utah–land of the amazing parks!

This is a picture of him when we first started going to parks together. He’s so little! How do you expect me to let a little guy like this walk to the park by himself?! And no matter how old he gets, he will always be this little to me somewhere in my heart.